Gàidhlig / English
Sgiansgarach

Sgiansgarach

Posted by Shelagh on Thursday 22 September 2016

An informant from South Uist used the adjective sgiansgarach to refer to a horse who would become frightened while pulling the plough and would attempt to break loose. Sgiansgarach is derived from the noun sgiansar, ‘starting’ or ‘sudden fear’, which has its roots in the Early Irish noun scén, ‘fright’ or ‘panic’. The nouns sgèan or sgeun, meaning ‘fright’ and the adjectives sgeunach or sgianach, ‘easily frightened’ or ‘timid’, have the same root and are commonly applied to nervous, skittish animals.

Scén is also the root of another common adjective used to describe skittish animals, sgaoimeil, which is derived from the noun sgaoim, meaning ‘fright’ or ‘sudden start’. Another speaker from South Uist called a horse that was unwilling to pull a plough or cart a sgaoimean and Dwelly gives the noun sgaoimear for a coward or timid person and the adjective sgaoimeach, ‘apt to be afraid’ or ‘skittish’.

Other synonyms collected include gioragach and sgiùramach, given by speakers from South and North Uist respectively. Giogarach is derived from the noun giorag, meaning ‘start’ or ‘panic’, while sgiùramach is linked to the verb sgiùr. This is derived from the English word ‘scourge’ and can be used in the sense of ‘scatter’ or ‘scare’, as a skittish horse would be apt to do.

If you know of any other words similar to sgiansgarach, why not let us know in the comments section underneath the blogs, or through our Facebook / Twitter pages.
 
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